with every beat i gave him a heartbeat of my own
by McMuffin
Summary: Their daughter's on her first sleepover, and their twins still seem a little colicky, but Mark and Addison manage to find some alone time during the Christmas season. Mark/Addison.


_This is for Rach for the Team En Fuego Secret Santa. :)_

* * *

She scrubs at a plate in the sink, torn pieces of tinsel littering the water just like they litter all surfaces of your house. Even though you're trying to keep your face straight to avoid the inevitable blow up if you don't, you can't help but find her yellow rubber gloves amusing. She's still impeccable when washing up, refusing to ruin her smooth hands with dirty dishwater. After you do another lap of the house in the search for stray laundry - also to prevent a blow up - and she's still scrubbing at that same plate you sigh and lean against the stainless steel bench behind her. Thumbs pressed cool against the flat surface, fingers drumming the edge.

"You know we have a dishwasher for this reason," you comment with a smirk. There's really nothing to be done to stop an explosion once she's set the fuse alight.

She's silent for a moment, deadly. You suck in your breath, waiting for her curse. "Derek would have called if there was a problem, right? He'd call if Em needed anything... He said he'd call... But what if there's a problem he doesn't know about? Em's always liked Mere more, and she's working tonight..."

Addison's always been more than a bit of a control freak, and she's given up the reins to her ex husband for the weekend. Evidently, by the dishevelled appearance and worrisome rant, not something she's enjoying. Emily, your eldest, is on her first sleepover at your best friend's house and is only ten minutes down the road. You highly doubt that she's going to fall and break her arm or be stabbed in the eye with a fork or spend the whole night crying or have a freak hurricane _only_ destroy Derek and Meredith's house while she's there. While she's a clumsy and fast-paced child, she somehow manages to only ever destroy property, never herself. And it's not as if the Shepherd-Greys are unreliable, they have their daughter, Jessica, who is much akin to her best friend.

You bite back a chuckle and work on lessening the smirk, but she notices the hitch in your breath and drops the plate into the sink. Dirty, soapy water spills onto the floor. You tap your fingers to fill the silence lacking in washing noises and gaze over her enigmatic irrationality.

"Don't you laugh at my worries, Mark Sloan. Emily's on her _first_ sleepover ever. Without us. And the twins still seem a little colicky. And it's Christmas soon so we have to see my parents in a week. And it's damn okay for me to worry about _my_ kids," she hisses. Venomous, not fiery. Her back's still stiffly turned towards you and you take the opportunity to move, capture her upper arms and press yourself up against her. It's the warmth she needs, the contact. You dip your head to kiss her soft neck and she immediately goes limp, loses the turgidity.

"Emily's on her first sleepover and we just got Clara and Josh to sleep... _Our_ kids are fine. Come on honey, relax," you whisper and press another kiss to her neck, feeling a shiver run down her spine.

There's still no other reaction from her, but you expected no more. Juggling sick babies and a hazard-prone four year old has proven difficult for you two. It's been an unscheduled timetable of events for the last month and the only contact you have is in the brief moments of non-frantic movement, and when your sleep schedules collide. Your wife wakes for feeding and lets you sleep as long as you tame the energy bundle you like to call your eldest. There have been other unexpected changes such as you staying on paternity leave indefinitely, and your wife switching to bottles already so that you can take over the 3AM shift in the hopes that you can both maximize your sleep. It's as if you're an intern again with the disorganized slumber.

You trail your lips along her neck, stubble grazing her skin. You know she prefers you clean shaven, but there's barely a second to shave when your life's as hectic as it is, and you _do_ know how to use your stubble to your advantage. Addison's silent now, you're sure she's still processing the many possible scenarios that could happen but you don't care about them,

You just want to enjoy this time alone. You sweep your tongue along her jugular slowly, listening for the telltale hitch in her breath once you've found the point that weakens her knees. Tenderly, lazily kissing that point you turn to sucking. Leaving her skin raw and red as you go, you make your way around her neck, sweeping her red tresses away. You slide your hands down her arms, lacing your fingers through hers as you pry her trembling glove-covered hands from the water and peel the yellow plastic from her skin, still kissing over the back of her neck and shoulders.

She sighs softly, and now that you've got skin-to-skin contact it's not too hard to coerce her away from the dishes and out of the kitchen. You rest your hands on her hips, gently pushing her forward while your lips press butterfly kisses along her neck. You sense a sort of reluctance and hope to rectify this by pushing all worrisome thoughts from her mind. Reaching the living room she stops short of the couch, turning slightly and you take the opportunity to capture her lips, kissing her sweetly.

You find your stomach does a flip from the contact of your tongue with hers after nothing more than a mere peck a few times in the last few days. Colicky babies are not high on your list of favourites, especially not around what is usually your favourite holiday. Your tongues battle briefly before she pulls away, tugging on the end of your shirt in a way that doesn't suggest she's about to pull it off.

"I miss her," she mumbles. "It feels weird without her here."

You smile softly as you get to the root of the problem. Not irrational natural disaster fear nor a freak out about her parents' imminent visit, just simply missing her daughter. Nothing complicated, but knowing your wife, she has to mask it and appear to be strong.

"It is weird without her here, but it's just one night... she's not going to college on us yet," you grin at her and rub her elbows with your thumbs and add for good measure, "And she's only ten minutes away with our best and most _trusted_ friends."

Addison sighs again and slides her hands around to rest on your lower back. "I see your point."

"Good," you murmur, dipping your head to kiss her jaw, eventually finding her soft lips again.

Layers are peeled off in between kissing and groping, Christmas carols quietly play in the background through the baby monitor– music to lull the twins to sleep. You unclasp her bra as you fall to the couch and you feel her reach to pull the condom from your back pocket (there's always one in there) before pushing your jeans down and straddling you. She meets your eyes with a smirk and you match her in return, glad that she seems to be past the previous pensiveness and angry washing of dishes.

You kick your jeans off and run your hands up her sides, briefly brushing against her breasts, but they're pretty much a no-go zone, a little tender from breastfeeding twins that have the tendency to be just a little too hard. At least you can still look. And they look _good_. You pull her hips to yours, bucking up against her and letting her feel your erection through your white boxer briefs, clearly visible and obvious to her when she grinds against you with a moan. Her nipples harden in plain sight as she grinds against you a few more times and you move to slip a hand down her panties and lightly circle her clit.

She bucks her hips into your hand with a gasp, and it's not long until you have her moaning and groaning for 'more, more, more' and 'hurry up and get inside me.' You're quick to oblige, sliding your Calvin Kleins down and stealing the condom from her while she kicks her panties off. While she's quick, you're quicker, and the second you have the rubber on your throbbing member you pull her towards you and thrust inside her slick walls. She's more than ready for you and you slide easily inside her heat, thrusting upwards as she rocks her hips in time with yours and rests her hands on your pecs.

It's been a while since you've had sex, only a few times in that brief period between Addison not being sore anymore and the twins getting colic. They're just over three months old now, and have spent the last month crying their lungs out and keeping their parents and sister from getting any rest. You didn't spend as much time on the foreplay as you would've liked, but you both know how rare this time alone is.

"Ohhh, Mark," she gasps.

You reach up to run a hand through her auburn hair and run the back of your hand along the nape of her neck after doing so. You're bucking your hips in time with hers, slower than usual but it's all either of you have the energy for, and driving your cock deep into her core each time. She's slippery and tight around your member, and it feels incredible. Her enlarged breasts bounce continuously and you fight the urge to stare too much, but it's a hard urge to fight.

"Addie, you're so gorgeous," you hiss, staring into her eyes.

She digs her nails into your chest as you move to grasp her hips, helping to slam her down on your dick as she rides you and you sneakily slide down the couch so that the angle of your thrusts changes and you're brushing against her g-spot while her clit grinds against your pubic bone. Addison lets out an expletive and bites down on her lip immediately after – both of you cutting back on swearing since you became parents. You chuckle softly and simply thrust harder, hitting the places that you know drive her insane.

Your wife doesn't last much longer, and she orgasms with a long moan of your name. Her walls pulse around your member, and it only takes you a few more thrusts before your thick cum is spurting out into the condom. She's still digging her nails into your chest and gasping for breath, her eyes closed as her toes curl. You groan lowly as you cum, but take pleasure in watching her reaching her peak. You find her absolutely captivating and sexy when she orgasms.

"Geez, honey," she gets out between gasps and collapses onto your sweaty chest.

You smirk and trail soft patterns on her back, catching your own breath as you lie there silently, save for the 'I love you's that you mutter. Her legs tangle through yours and you love this elated feeling, have missed it. Unfortunately, it doesn't last long as a baby's cry comes through the monitor over the top of 'Silent Night' and you both grumble.

"I got it, stay here," you whisper and kiss the top of her head, pulling out of her and sliding from underneath her to stand up and quickly remove the condom, tossing it in the bin on your way upstairs. By the time you return, wearing your boxers and holding Clara in your arms, your wife is dozing on the couch, arms wrapped around a decorative Rudolph pillow. Snowflakes fall outside the window.

You're exhausted, but you wouldn't have it any other way.


End file.
